


Monster in the Rubble

by BattyRae



Category: Magic: The Gathering (Card Game)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Burns, Centaurs, Enemies to Friends, F/F, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Ravnica (Magic: The Gathering), fire forged friendship, im bad at writing romances so im sticking with friends for now ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21858331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BattyRae/pseuds/BattyRae
Summary: A deep, hot blush crept up Nuala's face. "You're blaming me for being careful now?""You smell like fear." The Gruul centaur stepped closer, and it was all she could do to not back away. "No, worse than that. You smell likeprey."Words of peace fall of deaf ears in the rubblebelt, but the fires of battle and hunt forge relationships stronger than any blade. A Selesnya preacher goes where few dare to tread, and a Gruul shaman isn't quite what she seems at first glance.
Relationships: OC/OC
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Nuala

Nuala's hooves thundered over the rubble to the tune of the worldsong. Keeping time with it made for a steady pace, an easy way forward over the rough stone.

The worldsong would sing a little louder in the rubblebelt today, if Nuala had any say. And all were invited to listen.

Her twin swords were out and at the ready. She may be green but was no fool. There was danger here. A sharp blade and sharper wits were needed to survive, let alone bring the gift of Mat'Selesnya to those that lived far from the reaches of civilization. They did not always appreciate the message.

A flash of red caught her eye, and Nuala pulled up short, ready for the threat to make itself known. A long moment passed before another centaur stepped from the trees. Dressed in hides and adorned with bone, mane and hair as red as blood, there was no doubt. She was one of the Gruul. One of the people Nuala was here to speak to.  
"You've strayed." She said, no concern in her voice at meeting an armed stranger. "This is no place for you, Selesnya fool."  
Nuala let the insult slide right off her. "I'm right where I need to be. What's your name?"  
"What does it matter to you?" The red centaur snapped a stick from the nearest tree casually, shattering the wood like it wasn't as thick as as a grown man's arm. The snap echoed down Nuala's spine, and she felt a chill of fear that she fought desperately to keep from her face. "You'll either leave here or die."  
"You want a fight then?" The usual Gruul philosophy, from what Nuala's teachers had told her. Nothing was worth listening to until you knew the person saying it was strong. Win or loose, it didn't matter as much as fighting well did. She tried to keep her smile cocky, gesturing with her blades for the other centaur to make her move, only to get a snort in return.  
"I don't have to kill you. You aren't worth the trouble. You'll die anyway. Rubblebelt is no place for the likes of you. Go back to your garden before something that isn't as friendly as me comes along."  
The Gruul centaur turned to leave, but in a moment of frustration Nuala forgot everything she'd ever been taught about conflict deescalation and began to canter up and block the way. To make this Gruul woman _listen._ But before she could take take more than a few steps, a great yowling howl echoed around them. Frustration turned to fear in an instant and Nuala whipped around, searching for whatever was bearing down on them. A mocking laugh came from the other centaur.  
"Have you grown so far from nature that you tremble at the sound of a mating arynx girl? The Selesnya are even more out of touch than I thought."  
A deep, hot blush crept up Nuala's face. "You're blaming me for being careful now?"  
"You smell like fear." The Gruul centaur stepped closer, and it was all she could do to not back away. "No, worse than that. You smell like _prey._ "  
"I-I'm not scared! Mat'Selesnya is with me. Mat'Selesnya guides me."  
"You sound like a child. Where is your Mat'Selesnya, hmm? Protecting you from afar?"  
"Mat'Selesnya is here, in all things in nature!" It was a relief to get back on track. To talk about what she was here for. If Nuala could just say something to grab the Gruul centaur's attention... "In the trees, the wind. In-"  
"In a couple of mating arynxs?" There were far too many teeth in that smile for it to be innocent. "Or what about boar I ate last night? Or everything everything the boar killed?"  
"I-"  
"I must ask, if your Mat'Selesnya is in all of nature, why does it spend so much time eating itself?"  
"That's...it's just about the greater good. Greater purpose in the worldsoul. How many people did that boar feed?"  
"So. You admit that nature is violent then? That sheep die so wolves may eat? And yet you insist on being being a sheep?" She inched closer as she spoke, and still Nuala held her ground. Or maybe she was frozen. It was hard to tell. "I am a wolf. And yet you would shame me for making my meal. Tell me to grind down my teeth and cut off my claws. And then you would have then nerve to call it fair, all for then promise of the love of some tree."  
"I don't...we have wolves in the conclave. There's a place there for you, just as you are, if you're willing to find it."  
The red centaur scoffed. "Dogs. Not wolves. But let me tell you are secret little sheep." She was close now, close enough to touch. And all too quickly Nuala realised that trying to stand her ground had been a mistake. The centaur's hand shot out, taking a firm hold on her hair, pulling her head back to expose the throat. The other other hand moved just as fast, pressing a blade right over Nuala's jugular. The Gruul centaur leaned in close to whisper, lips brushing her captive's ear as she spoke. "There are no dogs to protect you here."  
Nuala's mind screamed at her to do something, but all she could do was whimper.  
"Please." She said. "I-I don't want to die here."  
"Then you shouldn't have come here prey. Reeking of fear and too weak to to do anything but beg even with swords in your hands."  
The swords.  
Nuala had forgotten she had them. How could she _forget_?  
She moved to strike, but the slightest twitch of her hand made the Gruul woman press the blade even closer. Fearful tears slid down her cheeks and Nuala closed her eyes, waiting for the end.

But it never came. Instead the knife pulled back. The hand let go of her hair. Confused, she kept her eyes shut for a moment longer, sure that she was mistaken. But no, she was fine?  
The Gruul centaur's smile looked more like a monster's maw when when Nuala dared look.  
"Go home, pampered little prey. And don't you _dare_ speak about your toothless "nature" to me again."  
Shaken, Nuala raised a hand to her throat, almost surprised when it came away bloodless. The Gruul centaur was turning away again. Leaving. And this time Nuala had no desire to make her stay. She had almost turned away herself when she saw a flicker out of the corner of her eye. Sleek snakelike skin, sharp teeth and claws sailing through the air.

Her warning shout was was too late. The beast pounced upon the Gruul centaur, and her short scream echoed through the rubblebelt. One short moment of pain and fear, that was all before the fire returned to her eyes. She bellowed at the creature, slamming her stick into into the ground, and it writhed in fury as the centuar's pain and rage called it forth to crush the beast. Lava spilled from the cracks in the dirt, but whatever the creature was, it was faster than the shaman's magic. She snarled at the pain this time, rather than screaming. Too engrossed in the in the fight to feel her flesh burning as the beast dragged her across the lava.  
Nuala had to do something. She couldn't just watch this. Couldnt just stand still as the other centaur's struggles weakened and stilled. She took a deep breath and gripped her swords tight, remembering the lessons on how to use them.  
_Not just two halves of a whole, but three that have become as one, as we all may feel each other's souls breathe and fight together, connected by the worldsong. Three fight as one. Two blades and I._  
She didn't yell as she charged. It would distract from the worldsong giving her strength. Nuala could feel her loved ones, her conclave, as they lent her their strength. Lifted her up until it felt like she was galloping on air. The cat-like creature turned at the sound of her hooves, and the blade came down.  
It was quick. Almost too quick. In her half here half there state, Nuala saw rather than felt her blow change course. A furious hiss marked a hit, and she swung back around for another charge.  
The creature's eyes were bright and full of malice, it took a step forward, and made a screech that shook the worldsoul itself. Pain.  
Injured, with the promise of an easy meal gone, the beast fled. With another flicker, it vanished into thin air, the blood spotting along the rubble the only sign of its passage.  
It took a moment for it to sink in that yes, it was over. The feeling of the worldsoul had faded a little now that the danger had passed, but when Nuala lay her eyes on the Gruul shaman, it began to echo louder than ever.  
_Need need need._ She needed help, needed healing. Needed the pain to end. Her face was pale, waxy. Her breathing shallow. Blood spurted from her flank, and a hint of white peeked through the charred mess of her arm and torso.  
_Help her help her bring her close. Help her help her ease her pain. Help her help her heal her wounds._ The worldsong was not words, but it's meaning could not have been clearer. Nuala knelt down, almost in a trance. The bleeding was the most dangerous thing. She lay her hand on it, heedless of the blood, and let the song pour out through her touch.  
The bleeding slowed, then stopped. Flesh knit together until there wasn't even a scar.  
Satisfied, Nuala moved her attention to the charred mess. It took a little longer for the flesh to regrow and knit together this time. So much damage. But eventually the skin was shiny new once more. The trance dropped, no longer needed, and the exhaustion set in, blurring Nuala's vision almost to the point of passing out on top of her patient. She very nearly let it happen, but the reality of where she could was sank in.

In the rubblebelt, hunted and alone with an unconscious Gruul shaman to take care of. A shaman that had threatened her already.

In a moment of horrible weakness, she considered just leaving the other centaur where she lay. Galloping back to the the safety of her family and just trusting that the Gruul would survive against all odds. But no, never. Never allow a hurt to go unaddressed.  
It was beginning to look like Nuala's time in the rubblebelt was only just beginning.

Carrying another centaur was awkward, but eventually they both got to shelter. A rocky outcropping that was far away enough from being a cave to not conjure up images of monsters in the dark. Trees near enough to keep the chill wind at bay. There was daylight left yet, but Nuala knew that as much as she had been able to heal the wounds, the other centaur had still lost a lot of blood. Recovery would take time. Certainly more than one night. They needed to be prepared for the long haul.

Exhaustion muddied her thoughts, made her hands shake, and Nuala collapsed to her knees before she could even begin to think about making a fire. But they still needed warmth right? Shaking with the effort, she pulled herself over to where the shaman was arranged in what was hopefully a comfortable position, and curled around her.  
She smelled like the Gruul, or at least what Nuala expected the Gruul to smell like. Sweat and fire and blood. But she was warm, and Nuala was keeping her warm. And thats what mattered.  
It was well past nightfall when the shaman finally stirred, waking her companion as well.  
"It's all...have I gone blind?" She asked in hopeless confusion.  
"No no. Lie still, please. You were pretty badly hurt but everything is fine."  
At the sound of Nuala's voice, the shaman scoffed. "You sound like someone I met. One day. Or yesterday. I don't know."  
"It's okay. You lost a lot of blood. It's okay to be confused."  
"Not confused. Just...scattered. that's all. Just scattered. And hungry. Is there any boar left?"  
It seemed easier to play along. "No, none. There are some dried berries though."  
The shaman took the offered rations, chewing thoughtfully. The silence stretched out so long Nuala started to drift off again.  
"Lilaki."  
"What?"  
"Lilaki. My name. You didn't know, now you do."  
"Oh. Yes. I'm Nuala."  
"Whatever. Light a fire then. Keep the animals away."  
It hadn't even crossed Nuala's mind that fire would do such a thing. "Oh right. Okay. Just...hold on a moment."  
As she struggled to find her pack in the dark, there was was a snort behind her.  
"Can stop me bleeding but you're still killing me. Make up your mind!"  
Nuala ignored the comment. Arguing never helped, and arguing with someone delirious from blood loss just seemed in poor taste. The fire slowly made its way into being, illuminating the two centaurs still huddling together for warmth that it could not produce yet.  
"'M only gonna say this once." Lilaki mumbled, on the verge of sleep once more. "So listen. Are you listening?"  
"I'm listening."  
"Thank you. For saving my life."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the title was inspired by Power of Two by the Indigo Girls. writing comes from me at 2am lol


	2. Lilaki

Lilaki's head was pounding. A driving horrible rhythm of injury. She grit her teeth against the pain, prying her eyes open and scanning for threats.

It was dawn, the orange glow to the sky made that clear enough. The fresh smell of night hadn't quite been chased away by the burning sun yet. And there were...flowers? Though there was no sign of them growing, their sweet smell hung in the air, intermingled with wood smoke and cave dust.  
Where had she been last? Lilaki remembered tracking. Hunting the beast that had been hunting her clan. Then...

Another centaur.

She tried to push herself up, but there was a weight on top of her, pinning her down. Lilaki bared her teeth and readied herself for a fight, but the weight was already gone, and a pair of big green eyes were looking into her own.  
"You're awake again!" The Selesnya preacher reached out a hand, and pulled it back just as quickly as she snarled.  
It was coming back in bits and pieces now. The preacher's arguments, her fear. Then the pain. The teeth. The horror of growing so weak that the fire inside nearly went out.  
"Did you kill it?" There was only one creature that could have ambushed Lilaki like that, appearing from thin air like a ghost, and that was the one she hunted. The shame of even the _idea_ of someone else stumbling in and completing her task, especially a pampered Selesnyan sheep, felt like it would drive her to either die or kill.  
The evangelist hesitated. "It ran away, but I cut it pretty deep. It's probably gone by now."  
A deep relief settled the shame. "No. Not this creature. If you do not see it lifeless on the ground, then it's not yet dead. And even then you should take its head for good measure."  
The Selesnyan did not reply. She just stared at the dying coals of the fire, fingers brushing mud from her braid to reveal the gold underneath.  
"How long has it been?"  
"Two days. You were awake for a little while there but I'm not sure you'd remember it."

There was something in the back of Lilaki's mind. Darkness.  
And a name.

"I remember enough." Lilaki pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the surge of pain in her head. If it had been two days then the creature was more than likely already stalking them again. She needed to kill it quickly. But a gentle hand on the shoulder kept kept her from cantering off to track it.  
"You're not okay." The Selesnyan's, Nuala's, tone was far more forceful than it had ever been, even when she defended her stupid tree. "That much blood will take a few weeks to come back. Let me help you back to your clan."  
"I'm not going to my clan. I'm going to finish what I came out here to do. Besides," Lilaki snorted, "I don't want you people knowing where we are. You'll all start turning up every hour of the day to try and make us toothless."  
Nuala opened her mouth, then closed it again. Smart enough to realise the truth then.  
"What was that thing that attacked you?" She asked instead.  
"My prey. The Simic left it here, why I do not know. It's a maneater. An abomination like all their creatures. It hungers for nothing but the flesh of thinking beings and appears from nowhere to take it."  
Nuala nodded. "One second the air rippled, and then it was there."  
"Yes. It's smart, fast, and totally unseen until it's too late." Lilaki picked up her staff, holding it close. "Do you understand now why I said you'd never survive?"  
Nuala lifted her blade, examining the bloody edge. "I thought I did okay." She said in that same fake voice she'd used to ask Lilaki to fight. Pathetic.  
"Your hands are shaking. Don't pretend to be brave."  
She'd been expecting another blush. Maybe even turning away. But something inside the Selesnyan just seemed to snap. "I've just about had enough of you!" She said, nearly shouting.  
Lilaki laughed in disbelief. She couldn't help it. "So. There is some fire in you after all then?"  
"I don't know!" Nuala really was yelling now. "And i dont care! I just know it was very nice of me to help you after you held a knife to my throat!"  
"That was for your own good."  
_How far does this go?_ Wondered Lilaki. _Will she scream? Attack me? Destroy something? How deep does your fire burn?_  
Sadly, the Selesnyan seemed seemed to realise that she was getting angry, and just like that she pulled herself back. Became toothless once more in one deep breath.  
"Look." She said, her voice back to the usual mellow tone. "If I leave now, how do we know the...thing won't choose to follow me? I...don't want to face it alone. And you don't want to lose the trail"  
"You're suggesting...what exactly? That we go hunting together?"  
Nuala's gaze was stubborn. "You're still hurt too. It nearly killed you once. Do you think you can face it again like this?"  
"I can face anything." As reasonable as she seemed, this woman was a stranger. Caring only for more souls tamed and leashed. Showing weakness would be foolish, no matter how much sense she was making right now. No matter if the fire in her felt familiar. "But come along, if you wish. Perhaps I can use you as bait."  
The fire should have lit again at that, but Nuala only smiled. Warm and benign.

The Selesnyan was...very chatty. Which was fine enough when they were just walking, if annoying, but as soon as a trail a trail of dried blood began appearing getting her her to shut up became urgent.  
And...well. it was very funny to see one of Selesnya's usually calm members on the verge of losing her temper.  
"If you don't shut your mouth, I swear I will rip out your tongue."  
Nuala should have exploded. Or at least bristled at that. But instead she just hung her head and shut her mouth tight. Pulling back from her anger.  
It was...frustrating. Arguing, spitting threats and insults you didn't really mean, was fun. Nuala made it not even a fight. Like squishing a butterfly. There was no back and forth, no partnership with her. She just took took it.  
"We're getting close." There was no point trying to fix this odd little partnership right now. If they were both still alive at the end of the hunt then they could speak. "Whatever skill you have at tracking, I suggest you make use of it."  
Either cowed by Lilaki's threats or too polite to ignore her request for silence, Nuala nodded. Her eyes flickered shut for a moment, her breathing slow and steady like she was trying to smell the wind shifting. She seemed...totally at peace, and somehow still totally focused.  
In spite of herself, Lilaki felt felt the corners of her mouth twitch up into up into a smile. _Not bad preacher girl. Let's hope you are as competent as you seem._

Every rustle of the trees was maddening. Every whisper of the wind held danger. Hunting a beast that made a mockery of nature...it was hard. Harder than any hunt that Lilaki had ever been on before.  
And far more important.  
They followed the trail for hours. A dot of blood here, a smear of it along a tree there. On and on, easiest trail she had ever followed.  
The Simic beast was intelligent. Was it intelligent enough to lay a trap?  
Well, it was outnumbered at least. Even if it took one of them, perhaps the other would have a chance. Nuala had already managed to injure it once. As scared and pampered as she was, she was far from useless.  
Hopefully it wasn't a fluke.  
The blood grew thicker. Like the Simic beast had slowed down enough to let it pool for a little longer.

"We're close to its lair." She warned her companion. Be vigilant."  
"I don't think it's been stalking us so far. Everything has been singing in a way that makes sense. It'll be waiting then?"  
"Almost certainly." Lilaki agreed, scanning the nearby bushes, seeking their prey’s next move. Flecks of blood dotted the leaves of a nearby tree, broken twigs trampled into the ground along the edge of a broken building that might have once been a cathedral.  
“This way”, She motioned her companion forward to the ruined door of the building. The blood trail disappeared through the rubble, pooling slightly at a crevasse in the rock face, a smear on a snapped pillar where the creature had brushed up against it. And further in, the patternless rubble broke open. Two stones had fallen in such a manner that they supported each other, forming what was almost certainly a lair.

Nuala seemed to be smart enough to recognise this place for what it was. Without a word between them her eyes were locked on the cave, listening so hard to her worldsong that Lilaki could swear she could see her ears twitching. "Stand guard." She told the Selesnyan. "It wouldn't do to have it attack me from behind."  
Though she paled a little at her companion's words, Nuala nodded. Lilaki did not fear for her quite like she did in in the beginning, when she first thought she saw a lamb wandering innocently through the slaughter grounds. She had already driven off the Simic beast once. She had a fire in her that wasn't quite Gruul, but that proved she had life and a soul to defend.  
If only she could shake the feeling that Nuala was only lucky. If only she could stop looking over her shoulder  
The cave was almost too narrow to fit a centaur. The roof so low that Lilaki had to bend almost double. With a frustrated growl, she reached out to touch the offending rocks, ordering them to shift. Rumbling, spitting dust, they responded to her spirit magic. Not quite an elemental yet, but under her control.  
The cavern opened into a room, almost untouched aside from the occasional hole in the roof letting in sunlight. The sandy floor was almost wet with blood. So much that even two days couldn't completely dry it out. Lilaki's staff was ready, prepared to launch an attack the very same heartbeat the creature revealed itself.  
But three heartbeats passed and no attack came. And Lilaki realised... this lair. Of course it wouldn't attack from a lair like this. No boulders, no tree cover. Nowhere for it to play it's tricks. This was was a dead end corner that an ambush predator, even one as warped as this, would _never_ let itself be found in.  
Lilaki had half finished her panicked turn to the entrance when Nuala's scream shattered her ears and tore at her heart.

Lilaki was back out in the open in half a heartbeat, the boulders settling behind her with a mighty crash that made the monster pause. Reevaluate the battle. While it was thinking, all Lilaki could see was red. Fury and the blood of a friend coloured her vision and she roared, shaking the ground just as much as the falling rocks had. The Simic beast was still quicker than any natural beast, moving like it had never been wounded at all. It dodged right out of the way of the jagged shards of rock the shaman threw at it, circling around back to the other centaur lying still on the ground as though dead, lifting it's claws for another attack against its helpless prey.  
Lilaki didn't see her friend move to strike. Nor did the Simic beast. Somehow, even when lying bleeding, Nuala was still faster than it, almost anticipating it's strike.

The beast didn't see her move, but the scream it made as its target cut off its paw made it clear that it felt it.

Claws gone, unbalanced, it went in for a bite instead. Nuala didn't have time to intercept this blow, only to dodge. The teeth caught her shoulder instead of her throat, tearing through her green pained armour like it wasn't even there. She screamed again, but kept a hold of her swords. Still armed. Still fighting. It had taken only two battle-rushed heartbeats for Nuala to start fighting, but even that was too long for Lilaki's raging mind. She threw another shard of rock at the beast, forcing it to let go or be impaled. It snarled as it faced her, and she snarled back, the taste of blood and fury on her tongue. It went in for a pounce, but stumbled. The shaman moved easily out of the way, like she could if a true creature of nature had attacked her.

Weakened, injured. There would never never be never be a better time.

The ground cracked open under Lilaki's command, tearing itself apart under the strength of her rage, branching cracks that made the creature dodge and swerve. But it wasn't fast enough. Not anymore. The ground under it crumbled away, and Lilaki snapped the rocks shut tight. Tighter. Tighter until there was nothing left of the Simic beast but a red smear.

The rage faded quickly. And Lilaki found herself at Nuala's side. The wounds were bad, but at least she was conscious, groaning in pain.  
"Hush Nuala." She said, trying to be soft. "The battle is over, you fought well. Now hush and let me help you."  
One of the shaman's hands were held tight in the way only someone in unbearable pain could. So she made do with the other. Deep claw marks on the flank, the bite, and a broken leg and ribs. All of them slowed their bleeding and pain as Lilaki bid them through the relieving burn of healing. With every gash that she turned into a scar, the grip on her hand lessened until the grasp was almost casual.  
"I...thought it had killed me." Nuala confessed after a few quiet minutes. "When it first leapt at me."  
"I felt the same way." The memory was clouded by pain, but the second the beast touched her, Lilaki had known what it was, cursed her inattention and sworn to die fighting. "I suppose this makes us even now."  
"Yes. I suppose it does."  
"Can you find your way back to your garden from here?" Lilaki's voice was far more gentle than she expected.  
"I can. Mat'Selesnya calls me home. I can always find it."  
"Then I suppose this is where we part ways." It seemed strange. Empty to part like this. Lilaki glanced around, looking for something. A token to commerate the hunt.  
And found the perfect thing.  
A quick burst of magic preserved the trophy, and a quick wrapping of leather string made it wearable.  
"Here." She said, offering the beast's severed paw to Nuala. "This is your prize. Wear it with pride, so all in the rubblebelt may know of your deeds."  
It looked so strange against the delicate design of Selesnyan armour, but Nuala wore it well, touching it with a smile.  
"Perhaps we'll see each other again." She said, hope shining in her voice so brightly that Lilaki couldn't help but smile.  
"Should the Simic leave another twisted monster here, there is no one I would rather have by my side."  
Nuala didn't need Lilaki's help to stand, her wounds were nothing but scars now, but she helped the Selesnyan to her feet anyway.  
"Until next time then." She said with a smile that said she was already looking forward to it. "And feel free to pass by the gardens."  
"I'll try not to trample them. Too much."

Lilaki watched Nuala's retreating form, silent for a long time before gathering up what remained of the beast's head. They would meet again. She was sure of it. _What a strange friend to make._ She thought to herself. A Selesnya preacher was not someone Lilaki had expected to forget a bond with. What good luck then, that Nuala had crossed her path.  
Their paths could not cross again soon enough.

**Author's Note:**

> the title was inspired by Power of Two by the Indigo Girls. writing comes from me at 2am lol


End file.
